Lab bulletins: UBT, prion disease cerebrospinal fluid test panel

Effective  Aug. 5, Urea Breath Testing (UBT) by APL has resumed after samples were sent out-of-province to Dynacare.

Results will be reported via the usual reporting channels under the UBT fields.

For samples that were referred out to Dynacare, a copy of the UBT result will be faxed or mailed to the ordering clinic. These results will also appear under “Miscellaneous External Test” folder in Connect Care. Get the details.

CSF Prion Disease Testing Panel: Effective Aug. 1, the National Microbiology Lab (NML) updated its prion disease cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) test panel. Only the EP-QuIC will be performed routinely. Get the details.

Reminder about delays: Due to an instrumentation upgrade, there is a delay in lab test result reporting for the Calgary Zone. Changes at the Clinical Biochemistry Hub Lab mean a typical 24-hour turnaround for routine chemistry and immunoassay tests will now take up to 48 hours. Get the details.

Reminder about UTM, VTM collection process: All samples submitted to labs in expired universal transport medium (UTM) or viral transport medium (VTM) are no longer being processed. Please check the expiry date. Get the details.